nassim, a new cultivar of red clover for enhancement of forage production in cropping systems in iran

in order to select and release of nassim, a new cultivar of red clover, the researcher carried out the researches at the field of seed and plant improvement institute (spii) in karaj and some research stations such as shahrekord, sanandej, kermanshah, arak, gorgan during years 1996-2006. the experimental research was carried out design rcbd with six treatments and four replications during years 2003-2005. the results showed that there is significant difference between nassim and the other cultivars based on dry and fresh forage yield in different years and locations. two years data of mean comparison showed that fresh forage yield of clover cultivars was 51.08 – 60.44 tons per hectare and dry forage yield was 10.12-12.11 tons per hectare in all locations. the results showed that nassim with 59.6 tons per hectare fresh forage yield and 12.01 tons per hectare dry forage yield (with 10-12%) is the best cultivar. clover cultivars had the highest potential for forage production in first year and the lowest amount in third year among all locations. nassim was the most tolerant to powdery mildew disease among all cultivars. the mean comparison of two years data for all locations indicated that karaj had the highest amount of yield with 87.99 and 15.5 tons per hectare for fresh and dry forage yield and shahrekord had the lowest amount of yield with 39.14 and 8.76 tons per hectare for fresh and dry forage yield, respectively.